A vehicle drive device as described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2001-354040 (JP 2001-354040 A) (Patent Document 1) is known as such a vehicle drive device. In this drive device, a first axis SH1 on which an electric generator motor 16 and a planetary gear unit 13 are placed, a second axis SH2 on which a drive motor 25 is placed, and a third axis SH3 on which a differential device 36 is placed are arranged at different positions from each other as viewed in an axial direction. The electric generator motor 16 and the drive motor 25 are arranged so as to overlap each other as viewed in a radial direction, and an inverter device is attached to a tilted wall 49 that is parallel to a common tangent line tangential to the circumscribed circles of the two motors 16, 25.
In the above configuration, however, as can be understood from FIG. 1 etc. of Patent Document 1, the inverter device significantly protrudes upward and laterally (toward the front of the vehicle) from the outer edge of a case accommodating components of the drive device. Accordingly, in order to mount the drive device of Patent Document 1 on a chassis of, e.g., a conventional vehicle that is driven by an internal combustion engine (so-called engine vehicle), it is required to change the positions, shapes, etc. of other parts that are placed around the mounting space, which increases manufacturing cost.